The first example of women’s tertiary education was the Mount Holyoke Seminary for Women, opened in 1837 in Holyoke, Massachusetts. The purpose of the seminary, opened and operated by Mary Lyon, was to educate women in areas other than the domestic areas usually assigned to women, focusing especially on women not born into wealthy families. Mary Lyon's original name idea for the seminary was the Greek word for 'the total world of woman,' Pangynaskaeia.
When the seminary opened November 8, 1837, nearly ninety women arrived with the items she asked they bring in hand (a Bible, dictionary, atlas, and two spoons), though the seminary had been prepared for eighty live-in students. Mary Lyon’s curriculum stressed, among other things, the importance of women in the mathematic and scientific fields, as well as physical activity, as she herself struggled to be educated in the typically masculine subject of chemistry. Every student at the seminary was expected to walk at least a mile every day after breakfast, except during the winter, when forty-five minutes of walking was deemed acceptable due to the weather.
A typical school day for the women of the seminary lasted sixteen hours, and included their classes, where the same books used by men at other universities were used by the students of the seminary, sections, and their work rotations. Because the way to learn was by recitation and memorization, students met with their teachers and reviewed the material in small groups every day. The work rotations ensured that the seminary was run smoothly, primarily by the students themselves. Household chores, like laundry, cooking, and cleaning were divided into sections and performed by that section for a month, and then rotated.
What We Believed Before
Before Mount Holyoke and similar schools were opened, it was popular belief that women were to stay home, care for children, and tend to domestic obligations. Women of privilege were among the minority of women that were able to pursue higher education opportunities. Contrary to the curriculum introduced by Mary Lyon, even women of privilege were expected to perfect the domestic arts, such as sewing and embroidery, and cooking.
What We Believed After
After Mount Holyoke was made an example, an increasing number of women have been accepted at traditionally masculine universities for higher education. Here at the University of Maine at Farmington, the rumoured demographics are of male:female are staggering- 30:70.
How Do Schools Act As If We Still Go By The Old Belief?
There are still areas of education that are gender-oriented, mathematics and the sciences being traditionally male, and the languages being typically female. There are also schools that have retained the reputation of being dominantly male, such as the oldest university in the country, Harvard University, when in reality the demographics for people with undergraduate degrees is just slightly male, being 51:49.
History
The first example of women’s tertiary education was the Mount Holyoke Seminary for Women, opened in 1837 in Holyoke, Massachusetts. The purpose of the seminary, opened and operated by Mary Lyon, was to educate women in areas other than the domestic areas usually assigned to women, focusing especially on women not born into wealthy families. Mary Lyon's original name idea for the seminary was the Greek word for 'the total world of woman,' Pangynaskaeia.
When the seminary opened November 8, 1837, nearly ninety women arrived with the items she asked they bring in hand (a Bible, dictionary, atlas, and two spoons), though the seminary had been prepared for eighty live-in students. Mary Lyon’s curriculum stressed, among other things, the importance of women in the mathematic and scientific fields, as well as physical activity, as she herself struggled to be educated in the typically masculine subject of chemistry. Every student at the seminary was expected to walk at least a mile every day after breakfast, except during the winter, when forty-five minutes of walking was deemed acceptable due to the weather.
A typical school day for the women of the seminary lasted sixteen hours, and included their classes, where the same books used by men at other universities were used by the students of the seminary, sections, and their work rotations. Because the way to learn was by recitation and memorization, students met with their teachers and reviewed the material in small groups every day. The work rotations ensured that the seminary was run smoothly, primarily by the students themselves. Household chores, like laundry, cooking, and cleaning were divided into sections and performed by that section for a month, and then rotated.
What We Believed Before
Before Mount Holyoke and similar schools were opened, it was popular belief that women were to stay home, care for children, and tend to domestic obligations. Women of privilege were among the minority of women that were able to pursue higher education opportunities. Contrary to the curriculum introduced by Mary Lyon, even women of privilege were expected to perfect the domestic arts, such as sewing and embroidery, and cooking.
What We Believed After
After Mount Holyoke was made an example, an increasing number of women have been accepted at traditionally masculine universities for higher education. Here at the University of Maine at Farmington, the rumoured demographics are of male:female are staggering- 30:70.
How Do Schools Act As If We Still Go By The Old Belief?
There are still areas of education that are gender-oriented, mathematics and the sciences being traditionally male, and the languages being typically female. There are also schools that have retained the reputation of being dominantly male, such as the oldest university in the country, Harvard University, when in reality the demographics for people with undergraduate degrees is just slightly male, being 51:49.
Additional Resources
http://fcis.oise.utoronto.ca/~daniel_sch/assignment1/ - Timeline of educational happenances
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/marylyon/- Mary Lyon biography
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/cic/about/history.shtml- Mount Holyoke website
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Holyoke_College#Overview -Wikipedia overview of Mount Holyoke
http://www.norwottuckinn.com/images/mholy1.jpg- picture at top